RALEIGH, NC (AP) — North Carolina lawmakers are considering breaking with a generation of state job-hunting efforts and giving corporations upfront money to move.

A state House tax-writing committee on Wednesday set up negotiations with the Senate on legislation creating a new fund with $20 million this year entrusted to one of Gov. Pat McCrory’s appointees.

That person is Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker. She says the state’s nearly two decades of luring companies with tax breaks only available after workers were hired and factories built is no longer enough to draw big manufacturing projects going elsewhere.

Decker says aviation and car companies are going to be hunting for factory sites in the coming decade, with lots of jobs in the balance.

Some conservatives and liberals criticize the proposal as corporate welfare.

(Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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You’ve STILL got a $10M program.
And I’m STILL against all incentives.
But, after giving away hundreds of MILLIONS of dollars as a loss to the state, as much as I hate this, I would be willing to give the state a couple of years (total $40M) to try to get more economic development here that will provide PERMANENT jobs, to thousands of people who will live, work and spend here AT A GAIN FOR THE STATE.
You had your YEARS of unfrettered incentives which produced an industry that cannot stand on its own two feet without whining and crying. Lets bring more Verizons here, lets bring a Continental tire here for a one time payout instead of an ongoing subsidy.
I’ll give the state a couple of years on this.
Face it – you guys blew it. You produced no independent evidence of the benefits of filming. Your rallies of support were pathetic, your lobbying efforts were dismal and the figures put out by your industry were so transparently over blown they made Johnny Griffith and others look like clowns.
I would prefer lowering taxes for all corporations, but apparently our GOP Legislature thinks otherwise, which seems to be a turn around from a couple of years ago. Yes it smacks of hypocrisy, and I am not happy with what has transpired.
But if your STILL “getting yours” and the Legislature thinks its time for others to “get theirs” then I’ll give it a couple of years.
At the very least – if this works, we will get stable, permanent employment, with the highest paid workers BEING HERE instead of going home to CA. You’ve had incentives since the 90s and still have a limited program. Now that they’re trying a limited program for other incentives you cry hypocrites?
Will you still care after you move to Georgia?
Or is that another false argument?

Vog

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Rick Wilson

2015 years 8 months ago

Shawn,

Offering a company a one time incentive package to relocate to an area is vastly different than what the movie industry demands. 1,000 manufacturing jobs from a company offering year round employment is vastly different from the movie industry. The incentive package the movie industry demands does not have an expiration date and they have also averaged a company unemployment rate of just below 10% for the last 13 years. They demand a sweetheart of a never ending incentive package and also use the unemployment system to cover just below 10% of their employee payroll costs. I personally am against all incentives (bribes), but if the state wanted to be fair, they would offer a lower corporate tax rate to all businesses and let the market choose the winners and losers. Make it fair, make it equal, or make it go away. The sense of entitlement that some have is getting old and the over blown statics of economic benefit without proof is insulting. How about showing the receipts that can be verified and the W-2’s to back up the claims and you could also show how much unemployment is collected per year…………

Unemployment statistics for the movie industry per the link above:
2001-9.2% 2002-10.2% 2003-11.2% 2004-8.7% 2005-8.5% 2006-5.9% 2007-6.9% 2008-9%
2009-13.8% 2010-13% 2011-10.7% 2012-12.9% 2013-9.3%. This is an average of 9.946% for a 13 year period.

I want to be clear on one point. I do not have anything against the employees of the movie industry. I am sure they are good people and deserve much better than to be used as pawns by their employers. The pay us or we will leave and take the jobs with us mentality of the movie industry executives is just plain wrong. They have created a mobile industry and use their employee’s livelihood as a means to extort money…………Once again…..MAKE IT FAIR, MAKE IT EQUAL, or MAKE IT GO AWAY.

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Shaun ORourke

2015 years 8 months ago

“We can’t be Picking winners and losers”…….hypocrites. Destroy the 30 year old film industry killing 4200 families. No incentives for any business if you can support the film industry.

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Mechanic

2015 years 8 months ago

This is wrong, wrong, wrong. As stated, it is absolutely nothing but corporate welfare.

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Mr.T

2015 years 8 months ago

the type of incentive that was requested by Continental Tire two years ago by the Democrats and Phil Berger and friends wouldn’t have anything to do with it. It will interesting to see what they do know.